http://www.msnbc.com/msn/393340.asp
I hope the government does go to court to enforce the agreement as they interpret it.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>SPRINGFIELD, Mass., April 13 — Firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson has "clarified" parts of its landmark agreement with the Clinton administration that called on it to crack down on gun dealers. Administration officials said they are prepared to go to court to force the company to comply with the disputed provision.
THE COMPANY CONTENDS, in comments posted on its Web site, that it feels portions of the agreement requiring that it make background checks and impose other restrictions on sales only apply to the sale of the gun maker’s firearms.
It also said that criminal background checks it agreed to for gun-show sales would apply only to firearms sold by licensed dealers and not by private citizens.
“We are standing by our agreement. There are differences of opinion as to what this means and that will be worked out,” said Ed Shultz, president of Smith & Wesson.
Smith & Wesson’s Web site said the company would abide by other major parts of the agreement. It said Smith & Wesson would still include external safety locks with all handguns, install internal locks within two years and work on developing “smart” technology that limits a gun’s use to its rightful owner.
DROPPED FROM FEDERAL LAWSUIT
Due to the March 17 agreement, Smith & Wesson was dropped from lawsuits that federal, state and local governments filed against gunmakers.
Clinton administration officials and a lawyer representing several municipalities dismissed Smith & Wesson’s interpretation of its responsibilities as a public relations ploy, the Baltimore Sun reported Thursday.
However, they said they would be willing to go to court to force Smith & Wesson into compliance, the newspaper said.
“The language of the deal is clear on all these points,” Neal Wolin, general counsel of the Treasury Department, told the newspaper.
Since the accord was signed, Smith & Wesson has come under sharp criticism from other gunmakers, dealers and gun rights activists.
However, Smith & Wesson’s clarified position was backed by the Violence Policy Center, a gun-control group that has criticized the deal from the beginning.
“On its face, the agreement was ambiguous,” Kristen Rand, the group’s director of federal policy, told the Sun. “It was never clear how Smith & Wesson could impose its will on its competitors.”
CLINTON CONFRONTS CRITICS
The issue of gun safety is receiving renewed attention in the days leading up to the April 20 anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre — the worst school shooting in U.S. history.
On Wednesday, President Bill Clinton traveled to Colorado for a town hall-style meeting on guns and to endorse a state ballot initiative that would mandate background checks on gun show purchasers.
At the meeting in Denver, which was sponsored by MSNBC Cable, Clinton expressed a willingness to compromise with Congress on gun safety measures.
Informed by House Minority Whip Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., that progress was being made in negotiations aimed at ending an impasse on gun-control measures the White House favors, Clinton indicated a willingness to drop his previous demand for a 72-hour waiting period for background checks on gun show purchasers. "We'll never get a perfect bill," he said.
Republicans had previously said they would be willing to impose a 24-hour waiting period, but Clinton had balked, saying some criminals would be able to avoid detection if the check had to be completed within that time. The issue has been a key obstacle preventing an agreement on a gun-control measure that has been stalled in Congress for months.
LAW ‘WOULDN'T HAVE HAD ANY IMPACT’
Colorado state Rep. Doug Dean told him closing the loophole on background checks would not have stopped the Columbine tragedy because the gun purchaser would have passed a check.
"So it really wouldn't have had any impact," Dean said. "Our legislative responsibility is to pass legislation that actually will go to the root of the problem."
Replied Clinton: "You can't refuse to vote for a law because it's not perfect and it won't solve every problem."
Bob Ford, who represents Rocky Mountain gun dealers, said the government should concentrate on enforcing current gun laws rather than enacting new ones. "We need to send a message: 'If you use a gun, then you're going to go to prison and there are no deals,'" Ford told the president.
He also criticized what he said was a lack of scrutiny by the Bureau and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms of unlicensed dealers who sell at gun shows.
Earlier, Clinton attended an event to kick off a signature-gathering drive for a state initiative that would require purchasers at gun shows to undergo background checks.
Outside the Colorado Convention Center, about 300 protesters, some waving placards and chanting "We will not disarm. We will not disarm," denounced Clinton's gun-control policies.
Several carried signs that read, "Rapists fear guns rights," "It's the criminals, stupid," and
"Sensible gun laws, stick them in your loophole."
Dozens of police officers kept an eye on the noisy but peaceful crowd.
DETAILS OF COLORADO INITIATIVE
The Colorado initiative is sponsored by Sane Alternative to the Firearms Epidemic, a group formed after the Columbine shooting, which left 15 people dead, including the two teen-age gunmen. Supporters need to collect more than 62,000 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
It would require a background check before a vendor could sell a gun at a gun show, with criminal misdemeanor penalties for offenders. Under current federal law, unlicensed dealers may sell weapons in private transactions without subjecting the purchasers to a background check.
With the approaching anniversary of the Columbine massacre, Clinton is attempting to pressure Republican congressional leaders to end the stalemate that has prevented bills passed by the House and the Senate from being reconciled by a conference committee.
Among the initiatives that Clinton proposed in the wake of the April 20, 1999, massacre at Columbine High School in nearby Littleton is a provision similar to the Colorado initiative to close the so-called gun show loophole. "Gun safety cannot be the only area of our national life where we say 'no' to prevention. ... I hope and pray Congress will follow your lead," he told supporters of the initiative.
The disputed bill also would promote child safety locks, ban the importation of high-capacity ammunition clips, bar juvenile possession of assault weapons and prohibit youths with criminal records from possessing handguns.
The House made its mark in the gun-control debate Tuesday by passing legislation offering financial incentives to states that impose strict penalties for gun-wielding criminals.
But on Wednesday, 16 moderate Republicans said in a letter to the White House and GOP leaders that the time has come for action on the more-comprehensive bill.
"A failure to pass the limited, common-sense reforms now under consideration is simply unacceptable to most Americans," wrote Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del.
MARYLAND ADOPTS GUN-SAFETY LAW
Also on Tuesday, Clinton traveled to Maryland for the signing of a state gun-safety law that requires built-in locks and other strict rules similar to those proposed by Clinton.
The NRA said in a release that Maryland was "the exception rather than the rule" on gun control. It noted that 14 states in 1999 and two more this year had adopted legislation shielding gun makers from "junk lawsuits" by public-funded agencies.[/quote]
------------------
"Anyone feel like saluting the flag which the strutting ATF and FBI gleefully raised over the smoldering crematorium of Waco, back in April of ‘93?" -Vin Suprynowicz
I hope the government does go to court to enforce the agreement as they interpret it.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>SPRINGFIELD, Mass., April 13 — Firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson has "clarified" parts of its landmark agreement with the Clinton administration that called on it to crack down on gun dealers. Administration officials said they are prepared to go to court to force the company to comply with the disputed provision.
THE COMPANY CONTENDS, in comments posted on its Web site, that it feels portions of the agreement requiring that it make background checks and impose other restrictions on sales only apply to the sale of the gun maker’s firearms.
It also said that criminal background checks it agreed to for gun-show sales would apply only to firearms sold by licensed dealers and not by private citizens.
“We are standing by our agreement. There are differences of opinion as to what this means and that will be worked out,” said Ed Shultz, president of Smith & Wesson.
Smith & Wesson’s Web site said the company would abide by other major parts of the agreement. It said Smith & Wesson would still include external safety locks with all handguns, install internal locks within two years and work on developing “smart” technology that limits a gun’s use to its rightful owner.
DROPPED FROM FEDERAL LAWSUIT
Due to the March 17 agreement, Smith & Wesson was dropped from lawsuits that federal, state and local governments filed against gunmakers.
Clinton administration officials and a lawyer representing several municipalities dismissed Smith & Wesson’s interpretation of its responsibilities as a public relations ploy, the Baltimore Sun reported Thursday.
However, they said they would be willing to go to court to force Smith & Wesson into compliance, the newspaper said.
“The language of the deal is clear on all these points,” Neal Wolin, general counsel of the Treasury Department, told the newspaper.
Since the accord was signed, Smith & Wesson has come under sharp criticism from other gunmakers, dealers and gun rights activists.
However, Smith & Wesson’s clarified position was backed by the Violence Policy Center, a gun-control group that has criticized the deal from the beginning.
“On its face, the agreement was ambiguous,” Kristen Rand, the group’s director of federal policy, told the Sun. “It was never clear how Smith & Wesson could impose its will on its competitors.”
CLINTON CONFRONTS CRITICS
The issue of gun safety is receiving renewed attention in the days leading up to the April 20 anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre — the worst school shooting in U.S. history.
On Wednesday, President Bill Clinton traveled to Colorado for a town hall-style meeting on guns and to endorse a state ballot initiative that would mandate background checks on gun show purchasers.
At the meeting in Denver, which was sponsored by MSNBC Cable, Clinton expressed a willingness to compromise with Congress on gun safety measures.
Informed by House Minority Whip Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., that progress was being made in negotiations aimed at ending an impasse on gun-control measures the White House favors, Clinton indicated a willingness to drop his previous demand for a 72-hour waiting period for background checks on gun show purchasers. "We'll never get a perfect bill," he said.
Republicans had previously said they would be willing to impose a 24-hour waiting period, but Clinton had balked, saying some criminals would be able to avoid detection if the check had to be completed within that time. The issue has been a key obstacle preventing an agreement on a gun-control measure that has been stalled in Congress for months.
LAW ‘WOULDN'T HAVE HAD ANY IMPACT’
Colorado state Rep. Doug Dean told him closing the loophole on background checks would not have stopped the Columbine tragedy because the gun purchaser would have passed a check.
"So it really wouldn't have had any impact," Dean said. "Our legislative responsibility is to pass legislation that actually will go to the root of the problem."
Replied Clinton: "You can't refuse to vote for a law because it's not perfect and it won't solve every problem."
Bob Ford, who represents Rocky Mountain gun dealers, said the government should concentrate on enforcing current gun laws rather than enacting new ones. "We need to send a message: 'If you use a gun, then you're going to go to prison and there are no deals,'" Ford told the president.
He also criticized what he said was a lack of scrutiny by the Bureau and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms of unlicensed dealers who sell at gun shows.
Earlier, Clinton attended an event to kick off a signature-gathering drive for a state initiative that would require purchasers at gun shows to undergo background checks.
Outside the Colorado Convention Center, about 300 protesters, some waving placards and chanting "We will not disarm. We will not disarm," denounced Clinton's gun-control policies.
Several carried signs that read, "Rapists fear guns rights," "It's the criminals, stupid," and
"Sensible gun laws, stick them in your loophole."
Dozens of police officers kept an eye on the noisy but peaceful crowd.
DETAILS OF COLORADO INITIATIVE
The Colorado initiative is sponsored by Sane Alternative to the Firearms Epidemic, a group formed after the Columbine shooting, which left 15 people dead, including the two teen-age gunmen. Supporters need to collect more than 62,000 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
It would require a background check before a vendor could sell a gun at a gun show, with criminal misdemeanor penalties for offenders. Under current federal law, unlicensed dealers may sell weapons in private transactions without subjecting the purchasers to a background check.
With the approaching anniversary of the Columbine massacre, Clinton is attempting to pressure Republican congressional leaders to end the stalemate that has prevented bills passed by the House and the Senate from being reconciled by a conference committee.
Among the initiatives that Clinton proposed in the wake of the April 20, 1999, massacre at Columbine High School in nearby Littleton is a provision similar to the Colorado initiative to close the so-called gun show loophole. "Gun safety cannot be the only area of our national life where we say 'no' to prevention. ... I hope and pray Congress will follow your lead," he told supporters of the initiative.
The disputed bill also would promote child safety locks, ban the importation of high-capacity ammunition clips, bar juvenile possession of assault weapons and prohibit youths with criminal records from possessing handguns.
The House made its mark in the gun-control debate Tuesday by passing legislation offering financial incentives to states that impose strict penalties for gun-wielding criminals.
But on Wednesday, 16 moderate Republicans said in a letter to the White House and GOP leaders that the time has come for action on the more-comprehensive bill.
"A failure to pass the limited, common-sense reforms now under consideration is simply unacceptable to most Americans," wrote Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del.
MARYLAND ADOPTS GUN-SAFETY LAW
Also on Tuesday, Clinton traveled to Maryland for the signing of a state gun-safety law that requires built-in locks and other strict rules similar to those proposed by Clinton.
The NRA said in a release that Maryland was "the exception rather than the rule" on gun control. It noted that 14 states in 1999 and two more this year had adopted legislation shielding gun makers from "junk lawsuits" by public-funded agencies.[/quote]
------------------
"Anyone feel like saluting the flag which the strutting ATF and FBI gleefully raised over the smoldering crematorium of Waco, back in April of ‘93?" -Vin Suprynowicz